“U.S. border agents fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants protesting near the border with Mexico on Sunday after some of them attempted to get through the fencing and wire separating the two countries, and American authorities shut down border crossings from the city where thousands are waiting to apply for asylum.”

From the Left

The left is focused on the underlying causes driving the migrants to emigrate.

From the Right

The right supports efforts to keep the migrants out, and is strongly in favor of the potential deal with Mexico.

“I live in Honduras, where people are in constant fear of being murdered... 9-year-old Andres told me about the first time he saw someone killed in front of his eyes, and the second time, and the third time... I told him I’ve actually never seen anyone be killed. His eyes widened, incredulous. That seemed impossible to him: someone my age, a grown adult, never having seen these things. He dreamed about going to the U.S., a place he imagined he might be able to live without seeing any more murders."

Fortune

“The Miami Herald found that the political violence in Honduras, which has contributed to an exodus of migrants, was sometimes carried out with U.S.-made weapons used by the government’s paramilitary force... Founded in 2013... [the force] quickly earned a nasty human rights reputation, including for extrajudicial killings… Official U.S. policy is to avoid supporting or associating with the Honduran military police in any way."

Trump should “send judges, not troops, to the border... A rational response would be to add to the 350 or so immigration judges, who cannot handle the tens of thousands of asylum claims flooding the immigration courts annually. The administration this year hired a few dozen judges, a fraction of what is required. As the caseload has more than quadrupled since 2006, the number of judges has not even doubled."

Washington Post

Finally, many posit that “any extended ‘remain in Mexico’ policy will have adverse consequences for the bilateral relationship. If your relationship goal is to create tensions with Mexico, extended stays for Central American migrants in Mexico or derogatory statements about Mexico's own border security will do the trick."

CNN

From the Right

The right supports efforts to keep the migrants out, and is strongly in favor of the potential deal with Mexico.

“The number of asylum applications has exploded since 2014 as more migrants learn to exploit [the policy of releasing asylum applicants pending the resolution of their claims], which the Trump administration sees as a loophole encouraging illegal border crossings and straining the US immigration system. Many applicants, especially those with flimsy asylum claims, never appear for their court dates. And fewer than 10 percent of those who pass an initial interview are granted asylum."

Despite contradictory reports, many offer reasons to be optimistic about the deal occurring.

“There are jobs to be filled in Mexico and a lot of potential laborers hanging around near the border in Tijuana. Since the new Mexican President would no doubt like to start his tenure enjoying good relations with his neighbor to the north, there’s the potential for a win-win here. They get to fill a lot of short-term job openings and they score points with Donald Trump... If this is actually going to be their new policy going forward, Donald Trump has pulled off a deal nobody saw coming.”

“Instead of blaming the migrants who are fleeing violence and corruption in Central America, we should recognize why they are leaving and do something about it. If we succeed in improving economic conditions and reducing drug-related violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, then we can expect that the citizens of those countries will choose to stay home."